Thinking my best friend, Twilight Sparkle, was being murdered (That's what that scream sounded like, trust me.), I rushed over to the front door of the library from my bed in five seconds flat. I probably knocked over a shelf or two, but who really cares about breakable artefacts, anyways?

I knew Twilight was at Doctor Whoof's, but she wouldn't tell me what for. My nerves heightened and my spikey tail twitched when I saw the tears dripping from her eyes as she explained what had happened.

"You remember when I went to that magic convention with Crescent Moon a few weeks ago, Spike?" My lilac unicorn friend said, surprisingly calm for her obvious state of mind.

"Yeah…" I muttered, wondering where this story was going. A blue stallion, that convention, a doctor's appointment, I was officially confused.

"Well, more than what you think happened that night, and now I have to pay for my mistakes." Twilight started to cry harder. "I'm…"

"You're what?" I said as my heart pounded like it was going to jump out of my throat.

"Expecting."

"Say what?"

"I'm expecting, Spike. A foal."

This is the part where I needed some jaw tape, as it almost hit the hardwood floor. I kinda sat there, bewildered, for a minute. I looked at Twi's face, then her stomach, then her face again in disbelief. There's no way she was ready for a foal, with her studies, and of course me, to take care of. Heck, she isn't even old enough.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" I questioned, "Telling the others would be a good idea."

"Yes, we are, right now." She said strongly, "Get on my back; we're off to the boutique first."

I got on Twilight's back, but instead of hurdling on like usual, I carefully climbed on. Something about another pony being inside of her made me a lot more nervous, because I'm a clumsy dragon. As she galloped over to Rarity's boutique, I could see she was doing the exact same thing. Instead of running wildly, she went fast, but checked everywhere for hazards. I jumped off when we arrived at Rarity's, thinking about what her response to this fiasco would be.

"Uh, no I didn't, Rarity. I'm scared, really scared. No amount of studying is going to get me out of this mess. I can't believe that I, Twilight Sparkle, top student and the Princess' star pupil…. let this happen." Twilight burst into tears again, as her unicorn friend tried to comfort her.

"Well, if there's anything -and I mean anything- you may need, come to moi. I'm not the Element of Generosity for nothing!" Rarity said with a faint smile, obviously trying to cheer her friend up.

Just then, I heard small hooves patter into the room. I cocked my head, and there was Sweetie Belle. Uh oh, talk about bad timing. I thought to myself, trying to pin an awkward smile onto my face.

"Hey Rarity, wanna come see what Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and I di- HEYY, why are you crying, Twilight?" Sweetie Belle said, confused and scared. She rushed to where we were standing, and looked up at her sister for some answers. I took a step back, there's no way I'm explaining this to a filly.

"Oh, Sweetie, Twilight's going through some big pony stuff. I'll talk to you about it later, okay, Dear?" Rarity said in a motherly tone.

"Awe, Rarity! I wanna know now!" Sweetie Belle mumbled as she stomped away from the scene.I tugged on Twi's mane. "Hey, should we go tell Pinkie over at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Yeah, better to get her over with." Twilight said, rolling her still tearstained eyes.

"See you soon, Rarity! Thanks for talking to me, it means a lot. I'll tell you anything else as it comes abound!"

"Ta-ta!" Rarity sung out, waving her hoof as we trotted out of the store.

Twilight jumped at the sudden sound of Pinkie Pie's yelling, and bucked me off her back. As I hit the ground, I gave the pink pony a glare, and she finally clued in.

"Oh, you are looking super duper glum. Why?" Pinkie said at a reduced volume, letting go of her smile.

"Well, you see, Pinkie…" Twi whispered as she stared at the ground. I think she still couldn't believe what was happening. I know I couldn't, that's for sure. "Look, long story short, I'm having a foal."

"Uh, what-y whatersons? YOU? A BABY? Yeah right! Stop trying to foal me, Twilight!!" Pinkie cried between bouts of laughter. When she got no giggles back, I think she got the point. "Wait a Pinkie sensin' minute… You aren't trying to prank me, are you?"

Twilight shook her head, as another tear fell onto the dirt road in front of Sugarcube Corner.

"Oh no no no no no! This is really true? Uh oh…"

"Uh oh is right, Pinkie." I grimaced.

Pinkie started to pace the road. "Well, you could put it up for adoption, there's a place down the road…"

Twilight's eyes lit up a bit, and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't know we had a place like that in Ponyville, I thought we were going to have to travel to Manehatten, or Fillydelphia or Celestia knows where.

"That's a really good idea, Pin-"

Twi's sentence got cut off by a familiar orange figure trotting up. Applejack. "Hey, girls! Ah'm just out to- oh dear, Twilight. You look so distraught, what in tarnation is goin' on?"

"Twi-Twi's having a BABY!!! No foalin'!" Pinkie announced. Applejack's jaw did preeeetty much the same thing mine did. As she lifted her chin, her eyes turned to her unicorn friend, newly sobbing.

"I had it coming, I fooled around with Crescent Moon on the night of that convention." Twilight whimpered between cries.

"Oh, Sugarcube… I remember when this happened to mah cousin, Apple Strudel. She went to that adoption place, and the little colt went to a good ol' couple. Maybe that'sa the way to go, don'tcha think?" Applejack suggested whole heartedly, her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. She whispered something, but I couldn't quite make it out.

Just then, our little party of four turned into six. I heard the patter of wings, and then two sets of hooves landed on the ground in front of us. One set being sky blue, the other, yellow.

"Hey, whatcha guys doing? Fluttershy and I were just going to drop off a few buckets of frogs over to the bog, and saw a little gathering. Why the big commotion round here?" Rainbow Dash said cheerfully, looking around to see what was going on.

Dash's eyes darted to the unicorn, slumped over in shame. "Yeah, you're right! What's up?"Twilight looked at Dash in despair, then to me. I shook my head; I wasn't explaining this to the pegasi girls. I turned to Applejack, who let out a huge sigh.

"What in Celestia's name were you thinking, Twilight?!" Dash said assertively, "You know Crescent, he's a one night stand guy, and he'll never come back! You're all alone with this kid!"

Twilight withered, sobbing uncontrollably. I gave her a hug, but I knew it wasn't going to help.

"Now Dash, everyone makes mistakes. You know how upset she is, could you please be a little gentler?" Fluttershy remarked, looking over at her friend.

"Yeah, it was a pretty BIIIIIIIG mistake, but she knows what she did!" Pinkie chimed in.

"You're right; I can't imagine how scary being pregnant could be." Rainbow Dash murmured, head down. "I'm sorry, Twilight, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just really worried about you."

Twi lifted her head. "Maybe if we all pitch in, we can take care of this until we can get a hold of the adoption agency?" She suggested.

"Okie dokie lokie! I'm in!" Pinkie said with glee.

"Ah'll help in any way I can. Honest to goodness!" Applejack said, patting Twilight on the back.

"I'm so totally in this!" Rainbow shouted.

"I'll help." Fluttershy said with a warm smile.

"Of course I'm helping!" I rolled my eyes.

~~~~~

Having to live with a young, pregnant mare was NOT fun, lemme tell yah. You have NO idea how many times I had to run to Sugar Cube Corner at 4 in the morning for cupcakes. Let's just say I've had to write a lot of SOS notes to the Princess.

The Princess on the other hand, was thrilled with the news. You're probably thinking "Whut? Her star magic pupil having a one night stand and getting herself knocked up is good?". Yeah, I know you're thinking that.

Well anywho, the Princess decided to take advantage of this situation, and she sent Twilight to practically every school in Equestria, explaining why you shouldn't go out alone at night. I had to come too, but I just breathed fire in the back for all those kids who never pay attention. They have it coming, anyway.

Back in Ponyville, every street was buzzing with the news. From Lyra, to Hoity Toity, to Snips and Snails, the story got spread across the town. With Pinkie in charge, they all set up a huge baby shower. Like, it was huge. The pegasi made it rain confetti, you had to use a ladder to get to the top of the cake, and so many people touched Twi's belly, the kid was kicking for hours. Heck, if I had weird things poking me that I couldn't see, I'd be pretty darn mad too.

~~~~~

"So, what kinds of pains are you having, Twilight?"

Fluttershy lead us into her neat and tidy cottage. Twi was having back pains about 9 or so months in, so we obviously went to the gentlest and sweetest pony in Equestria.

"Mmhmmhahspikeexplain"

I sighed. "Twi's back has been killing her. Got anything for it?"

"Yes, I most certainly do. Oh, you're getting so big, please sit down. We wouldn't want you straining your back even more, would we?" Fluttershy cooed at she went through her light wood cabinets, looking for some sort of remedy. "Ah, here we are. Willow bark."

Twilight laid down on Fluttershy's couch. She let out a huge sigh of relief, and looked over to the pegasus. "You sure know a lot about pregnancies, huh?" She said. Twi was right, every time she had a problem with the baby, Fluttershy knew exactly what to do.

"I do. A few years ago I volunteered at the Ponyville hospital. I didn't like seeing ponies go through pain, but I managed when I got to see adorable little colts and fillies every day. I have a good memory, so I remember what the nurses used to do." Fluttershy remarked as she hovered over to the living room section of her home. She handed Twilight a mug of tea with the willow bark in it.

"Hey, do you think you could get us a good room at the hospital? I mean, if you know all the nurses and stuff." I asked, hoping Twi wouldn't get cramped up in some janitor's closet with another mare.

"Oh my, you really want to go to the hospital? No no no, stay at home. It's more peaceful, and I'll be able to help you."

I looked at Twilight, and she nodded. "Okay, it's a deal!"

~~~~~

Months passed, as the 6 of us prepared for the birth of Twilight's new filly (Yes, Doctor Whoof confirmed it!). Fluttershy gathered pain remedies for the big day, Rainbow Dash made sure the house was completely baby-proof, Rarity sewed outfits and gathered other supplies, Pinkie, of course, threw that awesome baby shower, Applejack took weeks formulating the best baby applesauce known to pony kind, and I kept everything calm around the library. Twilight? Well she just kept getting bigger and bigger.

One summer night, I was distracted by my snoozes with a big nudge from Rainbow, and I could hear some pretty sickening screams in the distance.

"Psst, Spike," Dash whispered, "Twilight's pretty far along, she's gonna have the kid soon. She said not to wake you up until now."

I kinda squealed, and followed the Pegasus into the main room, where Twi was on the ground, breathing really heavily, with everyone surrounding her. I kneeled down next to her, and got sprayed by this weird stuff.

"Aaaaapplejack, does this mean we'll get to meet the baaaby soon?" Sweetie Belle asked hopefully. I wondered why they let the Cutie Mark Crusaders come, this was gonna get graphic, and I knew it. They were huddled in a blanket, near Twi's backside (Basically, they got front row seats. Go figure, huh?).

"Yes, kiddo, maybe about ten minutes or so." Applejack said excitedly. Sweetie Belle beamed, then went back to whispering to Apple Bloom about something or other.

"She's about nine hoofametres." Fluttershy announced quietly.

Rarity jumped up to started getting ready. She set the bejewelled blanket down by a diamond encrusted sleeper, and sat near them. I think it was because she knows I love diamonds. Like, a lot.

"I think it's TIIIIIIMEEEEE!!!!" Pinkie sung out as she bounced closer. I sat right in front of her, holding Twilight's hoof tight. She gave me a sheepish smile, and then went back to grimacing through the pain.

Rainbow Dash grabbed an old towel and stuffed it near the action. There was blood everywhere, even with only the very top of the head showing, and I think Sweetie Belle barfed in a nearby bucket. Poor kid, maybe she shouldn't have gotten front row seats. I watched intently, but was still kinda grossed out. Y'know, girl 'stuff' and everything. EW.

"Oh dear Celestia, that looks painful." Rarity remarked, as she held her hoof to her eyes.

There was a chorus of "EWWW"s and "WOAAAAH"s from the Crusaders, but everyone kinda expected it.

I just kinda sat there, watching it all happen. Back about a year ago, I never thought this would ever be happening, but it was. Now I was gonna be an uncle? A big brother? A cousin? I had no idea, but it was something.

Fluttershy dried off the part of the baby's mane that was showing, and it was the purple of a part of Twi's mane. There were also some black streaks, I have no idea where those came from.

"I think if you push one more time, we'll see her eyes! Yay." The yellow pegasus said, trying to cheer again.

Twilight heaved again, and held her breath so hard, she turned blue. But it worked, half a head came out (With more blood and gross stuff. Yuck.) , and the filly's purple eyes opened wide.

"Hey, they're purple!" I announced with a huge toothy grin. "Just like yours, Twi!"

"Ah reckon this is gonna be the hard part, Twilight, that skull and shoulders have caused tah Apple family some great pain over the years." Applejack warned.

Twi winced, getting ready for the pain. "Fluttershy…" She managed to get out. Fluttershy rushed with an herb to her aid, but it was too late.

With an ear piercing cry, the rest of the head slowly emerged. Everypony gasped, and the Crusaders hid under their blanket. As I glanced out the library window, I could see a few lights turning on. Probably to see why a pony was letting out such a scream, I know I'd be worried of my next door neighbour made that noise.

"GOOOO TWI!!!!" Pinkie shouted with glee. I don't think she quiiiite understood how much pain this was.

Rarity lifted her hoof from her eyes and gasped again. "Oh, you poor thing. I can't imagine…" She said worryingly.

Rainbow Dash flew around the room, getting anxious. Fluttershy dried off the little pony's head gently, and patted her with her sweet hoof.

"Ah wanna see the rest, c'mon Twilight!" Apple Bloom whined, followed by a few "Yeah!"s from her little friends.

"Now Apple Bloom, ah'm sure-"

Applejack was interrupted by Twilight, bearing down extremely. She wanted this thing out, like, right then and there. It sort of worked, the shoulders and front hooves came out. Everypony sat there in disbelief, but I knew just how strong Twi was.

Fluttershy put her hooves under the foal's, and applied some pressure. "Now go slow, we don't want anypony getting hurt." She advised.

I don't thing Twilight really listened. She pushed harder than ever. And with that, the filly was born. She laid there for a minute on the towel (And the pool of blood.) blinking her eyes and babbling a bit. Fluttershy scooped her up, and carried her over to the sink to clean her up.

Meanwhile, everypony celebrated as well as they could for three in the morning. Pinkie Pie sang some improv song, Dash flew around the room, creating a tiny rainbow. Applejack shouted "YEEHAW!" a few times, the Crusaders bounced up and down, Rarity got her meticulously sewn blanket and sleeper ready, and Twi and I just kinda sat there. She had her eyes closed, and I observed what was going on around me. I was officially pooped, and this was a big moment to take in. My caregiver, adviser, and best friend just had a baby. Like, whoa.

When Fluttershy trotted back with the newly crying foal, everypony got a chance to hold her. Pinkie rocked the baby unicorn back and forth, still singing that silly song, Rarity switched the old blanket the filly was swaddled in for the dazzling one she had sewn, the Crusaders all shouted "AWWWWWE" in unison, Applejack actually held her correctly, Dash took her for her first flight (Though it was merely a hover, I've never seen Dash be so careful.), and Twilight was the last one to lay a hoof on her. Ironic, huh?

Twi started to cry again, but it was a different cry. I leaned against her, looking in the baby's eyes. She put her hooves around her mother's neck, and fell fast asleep. I think Twi cried even harder.

"Okay, the sun is up, the agency should be rea-"

"No, Applejack. Her name is Moonlight Shadow, and she's mine. Forever."